


Lazarus

by DeanWinchesterIsTrans



Series: Avengers Meets Doctor Who(clever title yes I know) [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-02 03:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11501139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeanWinchesterIsTrans/pseuds/DeanWinchesterIsTrans
Summary: s03e07: The Lazarus Experiment, but with added Tony Stark, because why not.





	Lazarus

**Author's Note:**

> The Doctor is a flirt and Tony is too bi for his own good.
> 
> The Year That Never Was takes place while Tony was taken prisoner in Afghanistan btw.

Tony usually would not have gone to an event like this, but the invitation was weird, and revolutionary breakthroughs in science were at least a bit interesting, as long as it wasn't a new type of moss discovered. The invitation was delivered to his doorstep from a 'Mr. Saxon'. Apparently he was the one funding the event, but Tony had never heard of him before, and neither had Pepper, which was unnerving. He got the invitation and the idea of going had just sounded... good. And, he was promised a party. The party bit seemed to be a tad exaggerated so far, so he was really hoping the science bit held through.

It seemed to be doing alright, though. Tony examined the large capsule-like object in the center of the room. It almost looked like a...

"-- sonic microfield manipulator." He heard someone standing directly next to him say. Tony turned his head quickly. The person who had spoken was a skinny man with unruly brown hair. That term seemed to roll off his tongue easily, as if he had seen the sort of thing before. Tony turned back to check out the machine more thoroughly. He had only heard of such technology in theory before, but there it was, right in front of him, plain as day, along with some man he didn't know, identifying its function as easily as the color of the sky.

The lights dimmed as Professor Lazarus stepped up in front of his machine. Tony decided that a man who knew about sonic microfield manipulators, but not the term 'science geek' was infinitely more interesting than some machine he could take the blueprints for from Lazarus' computer later on anyways. He turned back to where he had last seen him, but he was gone. Damnit. He started weaving his way through the crowds, looking for a glimpse of brown spiky hair.

The Professor began his speech, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus, and today I am going to perform a miracle."

Tony raised his eyebrows incredulously. Events announced as miracles were usually either cheap circus sideshow acts, or, very rarely, something absolutely astonishing. That second option only rarely ever happens though, mind you.

"It is, I believe," Lazarus continued, "the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon."

Tony snorted and rolled his eyes. Cheap circus sideshow act it is. He nearly turned around and walked out right then and there, but his curiosity about the stranger kept him watching, waiting for what would happen next. He spotted him though an opening in the crowd and slipped through to stand right next to him.

"Tonight, you shall watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever."

'Well that's sure interesting, if not a load of complete and utter BS,' Tony thought. He glanced over to his stranger. Somewhere between the acts of commenting excitedly about sonic microfields, and hearing Lazarus' speech, his expression had turned to storm clouds. Tony started to get the impression that he was the sort of man that one would be severely ill-advised to piss off.

The man watched calculatingly as Lazarus stepped inside the machine. Tony's gaze flicked back and forth between him and Lazarus' machine. He didn't know which he was more interested in.

A blue light was hurled from the machine, with the majority of the audience shading their eyes and squinting. The light was accompanied by a high pitched whirring sound-- that's the 'sonic' part for you. The combination of both light and sound was nearly unbearable. The four columns around the device began to move, rotating rapidly around Lazarus' capsule, faster and faster, with the light flicking on and off.

An alarm began to blare overhead. The man looked around rapidly, trying to assess the problem of the situation. He seemed to figure it out within milliseconds, urgently stating, "Something's wrong. It's overloading."

Off the the side, the controls sparked and the scientists rushed about, trying to get everything under control. Pillars of smoke began to pour off the machinery. Tony was a genius, but right then and there, he didn't need to be one to identify trouble when he saw it. He started to push his way through the crowd to get to the controls. Maybe he could help. Before he could get anywhere nearer to the situation by the controls, the mystery man leaped past him, shooting straight through the crowd to the source of the smoke. Tony hadn't even spoken with him yet, but he seemed as if he was accustomed to dashing into dangerous situations. And, damn, was he fast. Tony tried to follow, but immediately found his path blocked by the crowd of panicking people.

He was stuck aside, watching as the stranger vaulted over a couple rows of computers and pulled some device out of his suit pocket. Tony tried to see what he was doing, but the smoke and people made it hard to see what the hell that man was doing.

Some old lady, a woman Tony recognized as Lady Thaw, shouted, "Someone stop him! Get him away from those controls!"

The stranger was rapidly pressing down buttons and pointing his device at the controls. "If this thing goes up, it'll take the whole building with it. Is that what you want?" he shot back instantly.

Lazarus' machine whirred even louder, and most of the crowd stepped back worriedly. The man hopped back over one of the tables he had previously vaulted over and pulled out a cable from the mess of tech that was the control area. With that cable disconnected, the machine slowed and whirled to a halt. One of the guests ran to the capsule.

The stranger shouted to her, running over to the capsule himself, "Get it open!"

She tugged open the door and faint smoke drifted out of the casket-like capsule, obscuring the figure of one Professor Richard Lazarus. The crowd stepped forward, as Lazarus gripped onto the outer edge of the capsule's doorway. That hand-- it was a young hand! Had he done it?! Just what did he do?

The stranger stood and stared while Lazarus stepped out, as if he was witnessing the birth of a monster, not as if he had just seen a miracle, which this might as well have been after all. Damn. This wasn't any cheap circus sideshow act after all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy-six years old, and I am reborn!" Lazarus announced triumphantly. Wow. If anyone were to fully live up to their last name, it would be him. In a hypothetical last name competition, he would win. He would win a thousand times over.

The crowd burst into applause, cheering for this sheer miracle they had just witnessed. That stranger did not clap, however. He merely stared like he had seen some horrible monstrosity claw its way out instead of the young man now standing and posing for photos before him.

The stranger's friend stood by him and said incredulously, "It can't be the same guy. It's impossible. It must be a trick." Tony hadn't meant to eavesdrop-- oh who was he kidding, he totally had.

Tony started to walk over to where Lady Thaw and the newly-rejuvenated Lazarus stood. He wanted to get a closer look at Lazarus' newly transformed appearance, and maybe do some business of his own. Some stranger's concern wasn't enough to keep him from his curiosity.

From behind him the two strangers' conversation continued.

The man stood solemnly watching the professor. "Oh it's not a trick. I wish it were."

His friend replied, concerned, "What just happened then?"

"He just changed what it means to be human."

Their words barely registered in Tony's mind, but he still wondered why this scientific marvel could ever possibly be considered a bad thing.

Lady Thaw was excitedly praising Lazarus' success with a desperate hunger in her eyes as Tony walked over to them. "Excuse me. That was the most astonishing thing I've ever seen. Look at you," she exclaimed.

Tony cut in, "I must say I agree with the Lady here. It was truly amazing." He shook Lazarus' hand firmly. "I'm Tony Stark, it's nice to meet you."

Lazarus gave a smile as if this sort of socializing was beneath him now that he had broken the laws of nature to his will. While what he had achieved that night was impressive, no doubt about it, that look on his face irritated Tony to no end. He felt obligated to be the very first person to punch Lazarus' smug look off his new face.

While Tony had been busy contemplating acts of violence, Lazarus and Lady Thaw had gone on to talk about profits and shaping the future. Suddenly Lazarus seized up, his face contorting in pain. Maybe something more had gone wrong with the process than just his machine overloading after all. Lazarus snatched a passing waiter's food tray and began to quickly eat all the food off it.

"Richard!" Thaw reprimanded.

"I'm famished," Lazarus replied, with his mouth full. Rude.

His stranger darted over, with his friend following closely behind.

"Energy deficit. Always happens with this kind of process," the man informed.

Lazarus took his matter-of-fact tone in stride and replied, "You speak as though you see this every day, mister...?"

"Doctor," the str-- Doctor replied. Doctor? Is that it? Doctor what? There were plenty of people with doctorates in the room, Tony himself had three, why just give 'Doctor'? That didn't make sense. He didn't make sense. Tony wanted to figure him out. ...And maybe get his number. Both would be ideal.

The Doctor continued, "And well, no, not every day, but I have some experience of this kind of transformation."

Lazarus smiled, amused at the unbelievable idea the Doctor presented. "That's not possible."

"Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance," he explained, then said more enthusiastically, "That's inspired."

Lazarus' face fell flat, his patience, and the novelty of someone else understanding his work disappearing faster than water in the Sahara. "You understand the theory, then."

The Doctor's face suddenly shifted to become more like it had when Lazarus had first pulled himself out of the capsule. A storm cloud on the horizon. Like this Doctor was viewing a monster, or witnessing a horrible train wreck he was far too late to prevent. "Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables."

"No experiment is entirely without risk," Lazarus brushed off defensively.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Lazarus. "That thing nearly exploded. You might as well have stepped into a blender."

"You're not qualified to comment," Thaw responded indignantly.

Tony shot Lady Thaw a glare. "What sort of qualifications does one need to point out the obvious? Eyes? Ears? A working brain? As far as I can tell, he's fully qualified to tell your boy-toy he was nearly a smoothie."

Tony wondered if he could recreate Lazarus' machine, but add a blender function as well. He mentally added it to his list of 'Things I Should Never Make And Wouldn't Be Allowed To Make If I Ever Mentioned Them, But I'm Going To Theorize About Anyways'. That list was highly top secret and kept away from Pepper and Obie at all costs, obviously.

Thaw stammered, and the Doctor gave Tony a curious once-over, finally looking at him for the first time that entire evening. He quickly turned his attention back to Thaw, however. "If I hadn't stopped it, it would have exploded," the Doctor informed her.

Lazarus gave an empty, exasperated smile. "Then I thank you, Doctor. But that's a simple engineering issue. What happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to happen. No more, no less."

Tony's overwhelming urge to punch Lazarus in the face returned. 'Simple engineering issue, my ass,' Tony thought.

"You've no way of knowing that until you've run proper tests," the Doctor's friend said in disbelief.

"Look at me! You can see what happened. I'm all the proof you need," Lazarus insisted, taking the phrase 'seeing is believing' far too seriously.

Thaw and Lazarus continued lecturing about business and the future, but Tony just started to zone out. Blah blah blah lofty ideals about humanity blah blah.

Lady Thaw and Lazarus left to go upstairs. Tony's curiosity about the Doctor could wait. He still wanted those machine plans. If he could figure them out, maybe he could use the sonic tech for something else. He could probably figure it out by himself easily, but taking the plans and deleting all the data from the system would make an incredible 'fuck you' to Lazarus. Wherever that pair went, they'd probably go to his office, so all Tony would have to do is follow them, wait until they left the room, and snatch a copy of the plans from the professor's computer.

 

Tony stood behind a corner, just out of sight of the pair. The two stood, looking out of the glass onto the city below, reminiscing about wars and times gone by. Tony wasn't paying much attention to them, too preoccupied with contemplating how believable his excuse of 'Sorry, got lost on my way to the bathroom' was. Seeing as there was no bathroom on this floor, and there were clearly marked bathrooms off the main floor, it seemed to be a poor excuse. There wasn't even enough alcohol being served at the event to fake being too drunk to read the signs, for shame.

While he wasn't paying much attention in the first place, he still heard enough to wince as their previously reflective conversation turned harsh and biting. While Thaw did come across as a mean old hag, Lazarus was being a real dick about it. Though, said mean old hag did seem to have some leverage against the oldest known male model here. Good for her, but seriously who the hell was this Saxon dude?

There was a sharp cracking sound from inside the office, followed by Lazarus' pained gasp, pulling Tony back into focus.

Thaw's fury subsided in an instant, asking a flurry of concerned questions to her once-dear love.

"I'll be fine in a moment. It's probably just a cramp," Lazarus replied, sounding as if he was lying through his teeth.

Another horrendous cracking noise rung out. Tony was fairly certain that cramping didn't sound like bones breaking, but he wasn't about to go walk into Lazarus' office and correct him.

Tony was incredibly curious about what might be happening to Lazarus just around the corner, but something in his gut told him to stay exactly where he was, and, under no circumstances, look into that office. He really wasn't one for following his base instincts, unless it came to bringing hot people home with him, but this one seemed rather persistent, so he broke the habit of a lifetime and stayed put.

A thud told him that someone had hit the floor. Considering Thaw was still anxiously rattling off questions to her dearest darling Richard, Tony assumed it was Lazarus on the ground. Lazarus was groaning, and there was still that terrible, sickening, cracking noise sounding throughout the room.

The cracking abruptly stopped, replaced by a low, threatening growl that made Tony thankful he wasn't actually looking for a bathroom.

Out of some inane impulsive burst of energy, Tony stuck his head around the corner and-- oh holy shit. That was one ugly, terrifying bastard. Oh hell, was that Lazarus?! Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck okay no bye. Tony pulled back around the corner and plastered himself against the wall, breathing hard. What the hell happened to Lady Thaw, and what on Earth did Lazarus do to himself?! The hulking creature once identified as Professor Richard Lazarus scuttled around the corner, thankfully not noticing Tony.

Once the Lazarus-creature had passed from Tony's view, he heard another sharp crack. Did that mean he was back to normal-- or whatever even resembled normal for Lazarus anymore...?

Tony pushed himself up off the wall and turned to go to Lazarus' desk. If he was here already, he might as well do what he came here for. He only got a few steps into the room before he spotted Lady Thaw's shoes. Oh yikes. Tony looked around quickly, and began to rush back to the elevator. He should probably find some authority figure, or something to deal with her... corpse.

The lift dinged as Tony approached, and the Doctor and his friend stepped out.

He planned to just edge around them, and go into the lift himself, but the Doctor's friend walked over and introduced herself, shaking his hand, "Hello, I'm Martha, he's the Doctor. Have you seen Professor Lazarus around here anywhere?"

Tony made a face and nodded. "Yeah, I saw him. He went that way, but... you might want to see this first." He led the way to Lazarus' desk, and to Lady Thaw's husk of a cadaver behind it. The two crouched over her, while Tony stood a bit behind them both.

"Is that Lady Thaw?" Martha asked.

"Used to be," the Doctor replied, seeming far too calm about the idea of finding a corpse. "Now it's just a shell. Had all the life energy drained out, like squeezing the juice out of an orange."

Tony raised his eyebrows at the Doctor's questionable metaphor.

"Lazarus!" Martha whispered.

"Could be," the Doctor agreed.

"So he's changed already?"

"Not necessarily. You saw the DNA. It was fluctuating."

"But-- he already has changed. I saw him. He looked almost like a... giant scorpion creature," Tony said, trying to explain, and also moderately pissed off at being excluded from the conversation.

The Doctor barely even batted an eye at this. What sort of a man deals with giant were-scorpions on a regular enough basis that the mention of one doesn't even phase him? "The process must demand energy. This might not have been enough."

"So he might do this again?" Martha asked worriedly.

The Doctor hummed nonchalantly in response.

Martha dashed over to the lifts, with the Doctor and Tony following after her. On the way down, Martha fidgeted anxiously, and Tony introduced himself to the Doctor.

"I'm Tony, by the way. Tony Stark," he said, sticking out his hand for a handshake.

The Doctor just eyed his hand uneasily. "Stark? I believe I met your father one time. Weapons manufacturer for the War?"

"War hero, thank you very much," Tony retorted. Well, time to get rid of that growing crush as soon as humanly possible. "There's no way you ever met him anyways," Tony said uncomfortably, "You look about my age, maybe younger, there's no way you met him. You're lying."

The Doctor grinned like Tony was missing out on a huge secret.

Martha cleared her throat. "Potential big huge Lazarus monster in a room full of people. Do we really have time for this?"

The Doctor at least had the sense of mind to look apologetic, though Tony still chose to sulk. The doors dinged open, and Martha and the Doctor sauntered out. Tony stayed back by the lift doors to scan the room. Martha appeared to run into a bit of family issue, but took off back upstairs with the Doctor shortly after, having been told Lazarus' whereabouts. Tony, while still a bit irritated, dashed after the pair. He wasn't going to let himself get left behind.

After a short ride back up, quieter and more uneventful this time, the doors opened at the top floor, the Doctor practically shoving his way out the doors the moment they opened slightly.

He spun around, looking everywhere in the room.

"Where are they?" Martha asked.

"I thought you said they went upstairs?" Tony asked Martha, unsure.

Martha turned to him and responded anxiously, "Yeah, I did, but where are they?"

The Doctor pulled out a strange device from his jacket pocket. He held up the device at eye level, the device giving off a loud buzzing with periodic beeping, and muttered, "Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature. I might be able to pick it up." The buzzing grew louder as the Doctor pointed the device upwards. "Got him!"

"Where?" Martha asked, piecing everything together before the Doctor could reply. "But this is the top floor. The roof!"

As they walked out onto the roof, they saw Lazarus and Tish standing outlined by the city lights. It would've been a romantic scene, Tony was sure, if Tish hadn't been standing next to a seventy-six year old monster that specialized in pissing off Mother Nature.

They seemed to be having a nice conversation, as Lazarus stared out across the city, quoting long dead poets almost older than him, "... Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act--"

"-- Falls the shadow," the Doctor finished for him. His look of calm judgement had returned.

Lazarus and Tish turned around at his words. "So the mysterious doctor knows his Eliot," Lazarus said, interested.

Martha tried to get her sister to step away from Lazarus, but Tish didn't understand the urgency, and continued standing by Lazarus' side.

"I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all," the Doctor commented, staring directly at Lazarus, nearly through him.

Lazarus ignored the Doctor's mildly derisive tone and replied, "You're right, Doctor. One lifetime's too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more I'll get done in two or three or four." He smiled at the Doctor in a way he was probably told looked charismatic once, but really just made him look like an asshole.

The Doctor didn't smile back. "It doesn't work like that," he informed Lazarus. "Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person."

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be," Lazarus insisted.

"Or what a curse," the Doctor pointed out. "Look what you've done to yourself."

"Who are you to judge me?" Lazarus said, irritated. While Lazarus was a monster, and he clearly had to be stopped, Tony had to wonder too. Who even was this Doctor, anyway?

Martha tried again to get her sister to step away from Lazarus. Tish finally walked closer to her, but behind her back, the professor collapsed to the floor, gasping in pain. Tish, busy defending her tastes in men, was nearly too late. She turned around just in time to see her potential lover horribly transform into a hulking mass of ew-what-oh-god-no.

"What is that?" Tish asked, disgusted, horrified.

The Doctor seemed to get his wits about him quicker than the rest of them, shouting for everyone to run as they all dashed back to the stairs. The moment they all were inside, he slammed the door shut and brought out his device, pointing it at the door, apparently locking it.

Lazarus slammed up against the door, growling. Tony glanced over at the Doctor and asked one of the questions that had been bothering him all evening, "What's that?"

The Doctor didn't look up from the device, but still answered matter-of-factly, "It's a sonic screwdriver."

"A sonic what?" Tony asked, not entirely sure if he had heard right.

"Screwdriver," the Doctor repeated.  
"Now lets go!" The Doctor grabbed his hand and all but dragged him down the stairs to the lift doors, ignoring all the questions Tony had about his screwdriver on the way down.

Once they both were at the doors, the lights dimmed and a calm voice came on over the intercom, repeating "Security One" over and over again.

"What's happening?" Martha asked.

"An intrusion," Tish answered, and everyone looked to her. "It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts, seals the exits."

"He must be breaking through that door," the Doctor said, his statement punctuated by Lazarus slamming up against that door again. He continued, "The stairs! Come on!" He then took off towards the flight of stairs, with Martha, Tish, and Tony following close afterwards.

Halfway down the stairs, they heard a shattering sound and a loud roar. "He's inside!" Martha shouted, about the same time as Tony said a quiet "oh shit."

"We haven't got much time!" the Doctor yelled back up at her from a bit lower on the stairs.

They hit the bottom of the stairwell and kept on running until they were back to the center of the ground floor, where all the people were.

"Tish, is there another way out of here?" the Doctor asked her.

"There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked now," she told him.

"Martha, setting fifty four. Hurry," the Doctor instructed, throwing his sonic screwdriver to her. "Tony, go with her," he ordered.

Martha, Tony, and Tish ran to the exit Tish had pointed out in the corner while the Doctor tried to warn everyone of the danger.

The Doctor sprinted up to Lazarus' device, stood in front of it, and shouted, "Listen to me! You people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!"

Some smartass in the crowd replied, "Don't be ridiculous. The biggest danger here is choking on an olive." The sound of shattering glass, and the appearance of Lazarus' horrible mutated form the moment after proved her wrong.

Panic broke out in the crowd and they ran, screaming, knocking over chairs, trays of food, and glasses of champagne, with Lazarus following and flinging tables across the room.

Martha unlocked the door with the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and shouted, "Over here! This way! Everyone downstairs now! Hurry!" The crowd of people flooded through the doors, while she, Tish and Tony stood aside, ushering everyone through and away from the monster.

Lazarus crouched over Martha's family, about the drain them dry like Lady Thaw, when the Doctor shouted at him, drawing the professor's attention to himself, and giving Martha enough time to get her family to safety.

The Doctor threw insult after insult at him, bringing him a step closer with each one. After calling Lazarus a failure, with the hulking monster almost right on top of him, the Doctor took off, darting into a side corridor.

Tony saw his chance and he ran after the Doctor, catching up and keeping right next to him. Snarling and growling, Lazarus chased the both of them.

The Doctor looked over at Tony and asked him, nearly shouting, between breaths, "What are you doing?! I thought I told you to go with Martha!"

Tony looked over at him like the answer was obvious and replied, "She can clearly handle herself, and you can't tell me about your tech or yourself if you're dead, lover boy."

"I'm not anybody's lover!"

They dashed around several corners, seeming to lose Lazarus. They ran through a doorway leading into the basement, and slowly walked through the maze of pipes and controls.

"Well that's good, flirting with someone's lover usually either ends in a threesome or a broken jaw, and I don't think I'd be lucky enough for the first option tonight," Tony whispered, hiding next to the Doctor.

"Oh, you just might get lucky," the Doctor whispered back, probably joking, and-- did he just wink? Oh hell. Tony's brain went static for a few seconds before being rudely interrupted by Lazarus' voice calling out through the room.

"It's no good, Doctor. You can't stop me," Lazarus' voice hissed with the pipes. Tony could see his shadow crawl across the wall, but he couldn't see him.

"Is that the same arrogance you had when you swore nothing had gone wrong with your device?" the Doctor asked, moving places immediately after he spoke.

"The arrogance is yours," Lazarus claimed, "You can't stand in the way of progress."

"You call feeding on innocent people progress? You're delusional!" the Doctor called out.

"It is a necessary sacrifice," Lazarus said, metal clanging as he stalked around the room.

"That's not your decision to make."

Lazarus didn't respond, and Tony and the Doctor continued moving about the room, trying to stay out of Lazarus' sight, despite not actually being able to see him. Shit. They had lost him.

The lights flickered on. "Peekaboo," Lazarus said, peering down from the ceiling.

"Oh. Hello," the Doctor said softly, then grabbed Tony's hand again and sprinted out of the room and back up several flights of stairs.

The Doctor ran directly for the lab, bursting through the doors, and looked around quickly. He jumped up onto a table, and reached for a light fitting, taking the cover off and switching up the wires all wrong.

"What are you doing, Doctor?" Tony asked, but realized what was going on the moment the Doctor started turning on the gas lines. "Oh!" Having caught on, Tony began to help him wreak complete and utter havoc on lab safety procedures.

Unfortunately, Lazarus quickly found them. His arrival, announced by the lab door slamming off its hinges, alerted the Doctor and Tony to hide down behind the lab tables, in an attempt to avoid being spotted by the monstrosity that was Lazarus.

"More hide and seek, Doctor? How disappointing," Lazarus called out, his voice more of a hiss than anything else resembling humanity now. The Doctor didn't reply, too busy being, well, not dumb enough to give away his position, and ignoring all lab safety lessons he may or may not have learned throughout his lifetime. The amount of gas building up in the room was starting to make Tony's head spin.

Lazarus smashed a table full of lab equipment, probably breaking some poor intern's heart somewhere in the world with an all-too-satisfying shattering noise. "Why don't you come out and face me?"

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" the Doctor asked, still maintaining his sense of humor in the face of danger apparently. He stood up at the other end of the room as Lazarus, and Tony followed suit, standing up and looking at the Doctor uncertainly. The Doctor mocked, "Why would I want to face that, hmm?"

He grabbed Tony's hand, again, and ran out, with Lazarus bounding behind. He flicked on the light switch as he passed it, causing the wiring to spark and set off the gas, the shockwave from the explosion knocking them off their feet.

They sprinted as fast as possible until the Doctor quite literally ran into Martha.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm returning this," Martha explained, handing the Doctor's screwdriver back to him.

"How did you...?" the Doctor asked, not bothering to finish his question.

"I heard the explosion. I guessed it was you," Martha said.

Tony wondered how and why this pair seemed so accustomed to explosions and otherworldly creatures.

"I blasted him," the Doctor explained.

"Did you kill him?" Martha asked, answered by Lazarus crashing through panes of glass windows, leaping towards them.

The Doctor looked around the corner to check, just in case there was some other thing aside from Lazarus in the building that enjoyed breaking glass and being dramatic. "More sort of annoyed him I'd say."

They kept running until they were down to the reception room once more.

"What now? We've just gone round in a circle."

Lazarus skidded into the room.

"We can't lead him outside. Come on, get in," the Doctor instructed, gesturing to Lazarus' device.

They all crammed inside, and the Doctor pulled the door shut. It was a very distracting situation for Tony, what with the giant monster outside and two very attractive people jammed in next to him.

Martha and the Doctor were talking, but Tony's attention was more caught by the terrifying creature outside, and trying to avoid panicking in front of the pair of beautiful strangers than anything they were saying.

The Doctor wriggled down to the control panel at the floor, which ended up as a very awkward situation for a little bit.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Tony objected.

"Something clever, I hope," the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver, and began messing with the wiring.

"I don't understand where that thing came from. Is it alien?" Martha wondered. Alien? Who the hell were these people?

"No," the Doctor replied, "For once, it's strictly human in origin."

'For once'? What the hell?

"Human? How can it be human?" Martha asked incredulously.

"Probably from dormant genes in Lazarus' DNA. The energy field in this thing must have reactivated them. It looks like they're becoming dominant."

"So it's a throwback," Martha summarized.

"Some option that evolution rejected for you millions of years ago, but the potential is still there. Locked away in your genes, forgotten about until Lazarus unlocks dit by mistake," the Doctor elaborated. He kept using 'you' as if he wasn't like Martha or Tony. As if he was something else.

"Yeesh," Tony muttered, "Glad we didn't end up with that."

"It's like Pandora's box," Martha said.

"Exactly. Nice shoes by the way, Martha."

Lazarus snarled from outside the capsule, and the machine started a high pitched whirring.

"Doctor, what's happening?"

"Sounds like he switched the machine on," the Doctor said cautiously.

Tony could barely hear anything else they said. The whirring was so loud, he was focusing on breathing instead of panicking, and they really didn't seem to need him anyways.

He vaguely processed Martha saying they would end up like Lazarus, and the Doctor saying he was almost done before a huge shockwave went outwards through the reception hall. The blast knocked Lazarus squarely off balance, and he fell over with a thud they could hear even inside the capsule.

The Doctor stepped out first, then Martha, then Tony.

Taking a cautious step down, Martha said, "I thought we were going to go through the blender then."

"Really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity," the Doctor commented. "I must be a bit out of practice."

The trio walked over to where Lazarus, now in human shape again, lay unconscious, face-down on the floor.

"Oh, God." Cautiously, Martha said, "He seems so human again. It's kind of pitiful."

The Doctor turned to her. "Eliot saw that, too. 'This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.'"

The EMTs picked up Lazarus, covering him with a red blanket and hauled him on a gurney into the ambulance. Martha headed down to her family and the Doctor trailed after her. Tony stayed behind, closer to the doors, still taking everything in. His decision to wait was apparently in good judgement, as the Doctor got slapped hard in the face by Martha's mother when he went down there.

He could see her fly into a defensive rage against the Doctor, with Martha resolutely backing him up. The Doctor seemed at a loss for what to do until he heard a large crash coming from the direction of the ambulance that had left just moments ago.

He dashed off in the direction of the noise, with Tony following right after him. Martha and Tish followed after, but a bit behind, having been held up by their mother's justified protectiveness.

They spotted the ambulance pulled over to the side of the road-- crashed really-- its back doors wide open, with nothing but the corpses of the poor EMTs inside, Lazarus' most recent victims. Killed trying to help, damn.

The Doctor's screwdriver was still picking up a signal from Lazarus. He had gone to the church.

"Cathedral," Tish corrected, having learned more than just Eliot quotes from her rooftop adventure.

They cautiously advanced into the central hall, domed ceilings arcing high overhead. The Doctor's screwdriver continued beeping. Tony's heart raced faster the longer they were in there without finding Lazarus.

As they crept up by the altar, they finally located Lazarus. He was crouched behind the altar, shivering pathetically.

The Doctor came around into Lazarus' view, catching his eye.

"I came here before, a lifetime ago," Lazarus reminisced. He went on, describing his childhood and his fear of dying. The Doctor claimed to have witnessed the Blitz himself, and he and Lazarus laughed because they both looked far too young for that claim.

Lazarus hissed in agony as his bones popped and shifted again. The Doctor paced around him, looking up into the domed roof of the cathedral. Panting, Lazarus continued his story of defying death. He claimed his life was worth more than those he killed, and the Doctor stared at him with those old, disappointed eyes.

"I'm more now, than I was. More than just an ordinary human," Lazarus insisted.

"There's no such thing as an ordinary human." Okay, that was approximately the second time the Doctor had referred to humans as if he wasn't one himself; Tony needed answers and he needed them as soon as possible.

Lazarus convulsed, his face contorting in pain. Martha and the Doctor whispered a plan to each other.

"If I can get him up into the bell tower somehow, I've an idea that might work," whispered the Doctor.

"Up there?" asked Martha, looking up into the rafters.

Lazarus stabilized from his fit long enough to remark on the Doctor's hypothetical age, and far less hypothetical sentimentality.

The Doctor described the harsher aspects of a long life to Lazarus. The struggle, watching everyone you love die, watching everything turn to dust, the certainty of ending up alone. He sounded as if he had personal experience.

"That's a price worth paying," claimed Lazarus, staring directly at the Doctor.

"Is it?"

Another spasm shook Lazarus' body. He switched subjects immediately, hungrily, desperately. "I will feed soon."

"I'm not going to let that happen," the Doctor said, shaking his head slightly.

Smugly, Lazarus pointed out, "You've not been able to stop me so far."

"Leave him, Lazarus!" Martha snapped. "He's old and bitter. I thought you had a taste for fresher meat."

"Martha no," the Doctor warned.

"Yeah, I mean, the both of us," Tony gestured to Martha and himself, faking a calm, prideful air, "versus that old man? No contest."

"Tony!" affronted by the two's recklessness, the Doctor spluttered.

Lazarus snarled and lept towards them. He was still appearing human, so the potential terrifying affect he could've had was slightly diminished by his sweat plastered hair, clumsy human limbs, and slipping red blanket. Despite his relatively innocuous appearance, Martha, Tony, and Tish still ran like hell for the tower.

Martha, still running, noticed her sister running from Lazarus as well. "What are you doing?" she shouted.

"Keeping you out of trouble!"

Having accepted that valid reason, Martha instructed, "Doctor, the tower!" making sure her friend didn't just stand around and let her risk her life for nothing.

Martha reached the wooden door first, tugging it open and dashing up the spiral stairs, Tish and Tony close behind.

They heard Lazarus scream in agony from below them, his body cracking horribly.

Panicked, Tish asked, "Did you hear that?"

"He's changed again," Martha observed, "Keep moving, we've got to lead him up."

They reached the top of the stairs, and heard the Doctor shout for Martha. She shouted back down, receiving instructions to lead Lazarus to the top of the bell tower, not getting an answer for what to do when she made it up there. Lazarus growled, far too close for comfort. Tish grabbed her sister's attention, and they ran off again for the bell tower, nearly missed by a lunge from Lazarus.

They ran into the bell tower, sprinting around to stand as far away from the doorway as possible. "There's nowhere to go," Tish panicked, "We're trapped!"

"This is where he said to bring him," Martha said, equally panicked.

"All right, so then we're not trapped," Tish snapped, "We're bait."

Martha pleaded, "He knows what he's doing. We have to trust him."

"Hello," Lazarus called out, making his unwelcome presence apparent.

"Stay behind me," Martha ordered, "If he takes me, make a run for it. Head down the stairs. You should have enough time."

"But--" Tish protested.

"Just do it!"

Lazarus swung his scorpion-like tail across the room, once, twice. The three of them ducked, and scattered, his tail barely missing them each time.

Organ music began filtering up to the bell tower. Was that really the Doctor's plan? Serenade Lazarus to death? But, oh... sound waves. Sound waves! Tony really hoped the Doctor's plan would work, because what Tony thought he was doing seemed dumb, dangerous, and highly unlikely to work. He really hoped it worked.

Another swing hit the wooden railings, shattering them to bits. The next one hit Martha, throwing her off the walkway, leaving her barely hanging on to the edge. Lazarus hopped across to loom over her, preparing to drain her of all her energy.

Tish's attempts to distract Lazarus were unsuccessful, and it seemed like Martha was going to die, until the organ music became unbearably loud. Tish and Tony covered their ears best they could, as it was loud as hell, but it was far worse for Lazarus. Martha started to lose her grip, but Lazarus toppled over. He fell down onto the main floor of the cathedral, and didn't get back up.

Martha's fingers finally slipped, but Tish reached out and grabbed her hand in time, pulling her back up. Tony grabbed her other hand, helping Tish to bring her back up the rest of the way.

The three of them sat in a relieved pile on the wooden walkway in the bell tower. Martha and Tish were talking, but Tony's mind was too occupied with 'holy shit' to do any other words for a little while.

"Who is he?" Tish asked in a hushed voice.

"He's," Martha paused, "he's the Doctor."

"Yeah, but who is that?" Tony asked, desperate for some concrete answers. All he received was a tired look from Martha that said 'please, just leave it.'

When they made it back down to the main floor, the Doctor ran to Martha, sweeping her up in a big hug.

"I didn't know you could play?" Martha asked, astonished.

"Oh, well, you know, if you hang around Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up."

"Especially about playing loud."

"Sorry?" joked the Doctor. Martha laughed.

The Doctor turned to Tony. "Tony Stark, Tony Stark, now where have I heard that name before?" he wondered. Softly, the Doctor said, "Oh," remembering. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, scanning Tony's chest. He frowned at the readings. "I'm sorry, but you're going to go through something very rough soon. I'm so sorry." He added, "See you around," turning and walking out of the cathedral, leaving Tony with far more questions than answers.

He pulled out his cell phone. It should've been about mid afternoon-evening in New York, but Tony would've called her at any hour, and she would've picked up at any time, too. Their relationship was nice like that, in his opinion at least.

"Hey, Potts, have you, or anyone on the internet, heard of a man called 'the Doctor'?"

She didn't respond. All he heard was something that sounded suspiciously like a dropped coffee mug.

"Pepper?"

**Author's Note:**

> Idk what the British term for EMT(Emergency Medical Technician) is or if it's just EMT there too, so I'm sorry for that being wrong. I tried my best on everything else rip.


End file.
